Floating naval battery.



No. 771,186. Q PATENTED SEPT. 27, 1904. A. P. STOKES.

FLOATING NAVAL BATTERY.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27. 1904. 4

R0 MODEL.

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PATENTED SEPTL2-7, 1904.

.No. 771,185. 7 A. P.. STOKES.

FLOATING NAVAL BATTERY;

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27, 1904.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 27, 1904.

PATENT Drums. 1

FLOATING NAVAL BATTERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,185, datedSeptember 27-, 1904.

Application filed January 27, 1904. Serial No. 190,844. (No model.)

To aZZ whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANsoN PHELPS STOKES, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Floating Naval Batteries for Useon Coasts and in Harbors, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming part of thesame.

In a prior patent, No. 7 2 1,7 56, granted to me April 7, 1903, I havedescribed a battery of substantially spherical shape for use on coastsand in harbors in which are embodied certain novel features. The presentinvention is intended for thesame purpose and may also embody the samefeatures described in the patent mentioned. It includes, however,improvements in construction which are applicable to spherical orhemispherical vessels in general and is designed to render such vesselspractically impregnable to attack and to afford special protectionagainst torpedoes.

In carrying out my invention I prefer to make the bottom of the vesselflattened for the purpose of lightening the draft. At the vertical axisof the battery is located a tube, the upper part of which serves as asmoke-stack, the lower part being used to discharge ashes and otherrefuse into the sea. Around the tube are one or more air-passages forthe ventilation of the ship.

The vessel itself, although an integral whole, is yet a plurality ofvessels, inasmuch as it consists of three or more substantially equalmain divisions each completely equipped. This arrangement is effected bymeans of radial water-tight bulkheads extending from the bottom to aplane Well above the load water-line. There are preferably no openingswhatever between the main divisions. A strong watertight subdivision(composed of the compartments marked A in the accompanying drawings) ineach of these main divisions contains a complete outfit of boilers,pumps, engines, stores, and apparatus of various kinds and is suppliedwith coal and water, &c. ,so that one of these complete subdivisions(comprising all the compartments marked A) may be filled with water orotherwise disabled and the vessel still be able to maneuver and lightand can be kept on an approximately even keel by manipulating waterballast and counterpoises. Water-tight subdivisions and smallerwatertight compartments are arranged as follows: In addition to theradial divisions the battery is divided by one or more concentriccircular partitions into arc-shaped water-tight sections, which are inturn subdivided by radial water tight bulkheads extending outward fromthe central tube or from the innermost circular partition. The main andsub divisions are divided also by a water-tight deck or decks.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical fore-and-aftsection of a vessel embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is asection online 11 11 of Fig. 1, showing the lower deck in plan.

The embodiment described herein I have designed with considerable careand consider it well adapted for the purposes mentioned. As will beseen, the battery is circular in plan, substantially hemispherical inshape, the radius of the base and the distance from the base to the topof the conning-tower being each seventy-five feet. The bottom is fiat ornearly so. The framework of the structure is preferably steel, and thewalls or sides, the bottom and upper deck, &c., are suitably armored.The central tube is indicated by 1, from the lower enlarged end of whichan anchor or anchors may be let down, as in my prior patent abovementioned.

2, 3, and 4 indicate the ventilating-passages around the tube. On theupper deck I arrange a conning-tower 5 and one or more gunturrets, as 6.The large guns, one of which is shown at 7, are elevated and depressedby shifting the entire vessel by means of counterpoises, as 8, Fig. 1,in the manner described in my prior patent referred to.

In Fig. 2, 9, 10, and 11 indicate radial bulkheads, which with the tube1 divide the battery into three water-tight main divisions and extendwell above the water-line, as to the gun-deck 12, Fig. 1. A circularbulkhead 13, Figs. 1 and 2, also extending to the gundeck, and a secondcircular partition 14:, extending to the platform-deck 15, divide eachmain division into concentric subdivisions, as. shown. In each inner oneof these are boilers and furnaces 16, connected by pipe 17 to thesmoke-stack 18. The boilers and furnaces are located on the lower deckwhich is also water-tight and divides the concentric subdivisionshorizontally. The platform-deck 15 is also water-tight and furtherdivides the subdivisions mentioned.

Extending from the inner circular bulkhead 13 to the outer wall of thevessel are radial bulkheads 21, dividing the arc-shaped sections intosmaller compartments. In the middle and largest of these on the lowerdeck arethe engines, (indicated by 22 23 24 25,)

driving the propeller-shafts 26 27 28 29. The

end compartments between the circular bulkheads 13 and14-in each of themain divisions on this deck constitute the magazines 3O 31 32 33 34 35,entered only from above, as by the stairs indicated. Lifts, as 35 35 35,to the gun and upper decks are provided. The compartments 36 37 38 39 4O41 on the lower deck between the engine-rooms and magazines contain coaland machinery of various kinds, such as pumps, dynamos, hydraulic gearto operate the turrets, air-compressors, &c. The outer compartments onthis deck between the walls of the vessel and the circular bulkhead 14serve as storage-tanks for fresh water,

those below these being used to contain wacompartments, reached only bywater-tight manholes, as 48, Fig. 2, are intended for reserve coal,reserve stores, &c. The compartments below the magazines may be used forwater, &c. On the platform-deck are comparments, as 42 43, Fig.1, forthe crews quarters, stores, &c. Above these on the berthdeck arecompartments, as 44, for stokers and, as .45, for counterpoises, as 8,which are movable on arc-shaped tracks and manipulated as described inmy prior patent before mentioned. On the same deckabove the boiler-roomsare rooms, as 46, for the non-commissioned ofiicers and crew. On themain deck are rooms, as 47, for ofificersquarters. The space marked 50is reserved to accommodate coal-chutes, ammunition hoists. pipes,lockers, &c.

The armor is distributed so as to be most effective. The belt-armor iseighteen inches thick. The sides above the'belt have fifteeninch armor.-The turret-armor is fifteen inches thick on the sides and three incheson top. The conning-tower is protected by fifteen inches on the sidesand four inches on top. Elsewhere on the sides and on the bottom of thebattery three-inch armor is used. The armoreddecks are the berth-deckfrom the central tube to the circular bulkhead 13 two inches, and theplatform-deck one inch. Armor 49 is also placed under the lower-deckbeams, where it will afford additional protection against torpedoes,&c., as also on bulkhead-partition 14. The bulkhead 13 between theplatform and berth decks is armored with two-inch plates. The three maindivisions of the battery formed by the radial bulkheads 9,

10, 11 are, as shown, substantially identical ments marked A form anindependent water -tight subdivision of the main division which liesbetween the radial bulkheads 10 and 11. The compartments marked B arealso intercommunicating, but not with any others, and form anotherindependent wa-. ter-tight subdivision. Similarly, the compartmentsmarkedC form the third independent and water-tight subdivision. Each ofthese subdivisions just described contains less cubic feet of space thanthe surplus buoyancy of the battery, and one of the subdivisionsA or Bmight be filled with water, even if accompanied by the filling of someof the cells or compartments below the lower deck, without causing thebattery to sink or to be disabled. The surplus buoyancy may be increased byclosing the lower parts of the ports on gun-deck. The shape ofthe battery gives a large interior capacity for the extent of externalsurface, or, stated otherwise, a smaller amount of heavy armor is neededthan would be necessary to afford the same protection to a vessel ofnon-spherical shape.

The disposition of the interior is convenient and utilizesadvantageously the available space. The armor shown below the belt and von the bottom of the battery affords protection against torpedoes, asdoes also the cellular form of the hold and the armor under thelower-deck beams and on bulkhead 14.

What I claim is- 1. A floating battery, circular in plan and presentinga substantially spherical shape above the water-line, having mainwater-tight divisions formed by radial bulkheads extending from acentral tube to the sides or outer walls, each main division beingsubdivided by one or more concentric, circular water-tight bulkheads, byradial water-tight bulkheads between the concentric bulkheads and by oneor more water-tight decks, as set forth.

2. A floating battery, circular in plan and presenting a .substantiallyspherical shape above the water-line, having a plurality of water-tightmain divisions formed by radial bulkheads extending from a central tubeto IIS the outer walls, each main division being subdivided by one ormore concentric circular water-tight bulkheads, by radial, water-tightbulkheads between the concentric bulkheads, and by one or morewater-tight decks below the water-line, as set forth.

3. A floating battery, circular in plan and presenting a substantiallyspherical shape above the water-line, having a plurality of water-tightmain divisions formed by radial bulkheads extending from a central tubeto the outer walls, each main division being subdivided into a pluralityof water-tight subdivisions by circular, concentric bulkheads, by radialbulkheads between the concentric bulkheads, and by one or more decks,the main divisions being substantially identical with each other inarrangement and equipment, as set forth.

4. Afloating battery, circular in plan and presenting a substantiallyspherical shape above the water-line, having three water-tight maindivisions, formed by radial bulkheads; a central tube common to saiddivisions; steamgenerating apparatus in each division ad jacent to thecentral tube; one or more circular bulkheads, radial bulkheads extendingfrom the circular bulkheads, and one or more watertight decks below thewater-line, forming subdivisions and compartments in concentric tiersand rows between the steam-generating apparatus and the outer walls; andmeans in each main division for propelling and maneuvering the battery;as and for the purposes set forth.

5. An armored floating battery, circular in plan and presenting asubstantially spherical shape above the water-line, having a pluralityof water-tight main divisions formed by radial bulkheads; a water-tightcircular bulkhead between the outer walls and a tube surrounding thevertical axis, extending from the bottom to above the water-line; awatertight deck extending from the circular bulkhead to the outer walls;armor-protecting parts of the circular bulkheads, a water-tight deckbelow that first mentioned extending from the central tube to the outerwalls; a second water-tight circular bulkhead between the first andtheouter walls, extending from the bottom of the battery to a deck abovethe last-mentioned deck; armor-protecting parts of said bulkheads; and acomplete equipment of power and other apparatus in an interiorwater-tight and armor-protected subdivision in each main division, asand for the purposes set forth.

6. A floating battery circular in plan and presenting a substantiallyspherical shape above the waterline,. having a plurality of Water-tightmain divisions formed by radial bulkheads extending from about thevertical axis to the outer walls, a plurality of water tight decks,circular bulkheads and radial bulkheads, dividing each main divisioninto a plurality of independent water-tight subdivisions, and aplurality of bulkheads dividing each subdivision into compartments, anda complete equipment of power and other apparatus in each main division,as set forth. ANSON PHELPS STOKES. Witnesses:

J. R. JOHNSON, M. J. BRAGE.

